Hikers back bill to open Bump and Grind trail

Hikers back bill to open Bump and Grind trail

Dozens of hikers gathered Saturday at the start of the Bump and Grind Trail in Palm Desert to support Assembly Bill 880, which its authors say will compel state officials to remove a barricade at the top of the trail and once again open the entire path to hiking.

State Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert, author of the bipartisan initiative, and co-author and fellow Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella, stood among the hikers at the trailhead.

“We are here today to order (the state Department of) Fish and Game to remove the locks and open the gate to the Bump and Grind Trail,” Nestande said.

“This legislation is in response to a public outcry.”

Last June, when the barricade was installed, Fish and Game officials cited an effort to protect the endangered population of Peninsular bighorn sheep in the mountains circling the Coachella Valley.